Pat Caputo - Anthony Mantha light at end of tunnel for Red Wings

It was late in the third period Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena. The Red Wings had completed the task, taking advantage of a couple sieve backup goalies, and blowing out the Calgary Flames.

The Red Wings’ resident tough guy, Luke Witkowski, beat up the Flames’ Brett Kulak, with Anthony Mantha pounding on the head of Calgary defenseman Travis Hamonic in the bench area for good measure.

It was old-time hockey. No, not like Eddie Shore or Toe Blake in the movie, “Slap Shot,” but rather like the Red Wings’ salad days not long ago.

Witkowski played the role of Darren McCarty, and Mantha, who had a Gordie Howe hat trick and more (two goals, an assist, a fight) was Brendan Shanahan. Dylan Larkin made like Steve Yzerman (a goal, two assists, plus three), while Andreas Athanasiou did a fine Sergei Fedorov impression (two goals, an assist). Goalie Jimmy Howard joined in the fighting, just like Mike Vernon and Chris Osgood back in the day.

The final score: Detroit 8, Calgary 2. Hockeytown is back!!!

OK, this is the part where we pump the brakes. The Red Wings aren’t that good. They are 9-8-2. If the playoffs started Thursday, they wouldn’t be in.

And there were far fewer at LCA than the 19,515 claimed on the stat sheet.

Yet, the Red Wings are no longer as boring as watching paint dry. They have planted seeds.

It starts with the 23-year-old Mantha, who once stunned major junior hockey with 81 goals in 81 games (counting playoffs) before disappointing a few times at Grand Rapids. He’s 6-5, 225 pounds, has a terrific scoring touch around the net and easily skates well enough to maintain pace with the fastest players. Now he is beginning to show the hockey character his lineage suggests (his grandfather is a former NHL and Red Wings’ player, Andre Pronovost, who played on four Stanley Cup champs). Mantha has nine goals and is scoring a point per game, some of his assists coming off brilliant blind passes.

Mantha, the Red Wings’ first-round pick in 2013, a steal at 20th overall, is the one player on the Red Wings who has consistently maintained his Corsi close (time of possession up or down a goal or tied) above the 50 threshold during his NHL stints. More importantly, those on the ice with him tend to automatically improve.

It all suggests he has a chance to be a genuine star.

It’s particularly eye-opening when Red Wings’ coach Jeff Blashill puts Mantha at wing on a line centered by Waterford’s fleet Larkin, with the equally-speedy Athanasiou on the other side.

Larkin had regressed significantly after breaking into the league so successfully The Hockey News put him on the cover suggesting he is the next Jonathan Toews. He turned over the puck at an alarming rate last season and seemed unsure of himself. Larkin’s a different player this season - much more decisive.

Athanasiou has returned after an ill-advised contract holdout and is playing more responsibility. He has tremendous speed and a finisher’s touch, but he floated too much. It led to this great divide between Red Wings’ fans on social media and calling sports talk radio, and those within hockey, the latter sensing there was more style than substance. The metrics suggested that sentiment was more than just the eyeball test Athanasiou’s Corsi close dipped significantly to a revealingly low 44.2 in 2016-17, but he’s been much better (49.6) this season.

It’s just the quarter point of the schedule, and the Red Wings are in the middle of what will be a typical tight race for a playoff spot. The system is set up for it because points are given merely for reaching overtime.

The Red Wings still have defensive deficiencies, particularly when it comes to moving the puck. They remain greatly dependent on veterans such as Howard and captain Henrik Zetterberg, and are counting a bit too much for Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar to finally become the once-projected lamp lighting machines.

The Red Wings host Buffalo, Colorado and Edmonton - all decidedly winnable games - within a week. They have a road game at the Rangers and then are home the rest of the month, and most of early December.

Mantha, Larkin and Athanasiou have suggested promise, but is it genuine progress?